The logline for The Little Wife made me laugh out loud. I'm going to look to see if it ever got made. I want to see it. It's interesting to read the loglines. Some are intriguing. Others are rather dull, yet I know they turned into great films. The Shawshank logline is about as boring as it gets. If it didn't have "Based on a Stephen King novella" in it, I wonder how many people would've passed it by without ever reading the script. (Also, consider this your reminder to tell the Shawshank story.)

The Little Wife really caught my attention. Nice idea, and ai can see the trailer straight away. Mind you, it's one of those stories where tone makes all the difference - "10-year-old is trafficked to rich US businessman" could be a *very* different kind of movie if handled differently! And Outlaws - "same but different". We all love West Wild outlaws: well, now they're women! And a nice example of gender reversal with Pants (great title). It's Tootsie, with a woman, in the world of business!

These posts are a great source for how to write loglines. Comedy 19 48% Drama 9 23% Action 4 10% Adventure 4 10% Thriller 2 5% Fantasy 1 3% Western 1 3% Warner 8 21% Disney 5 13% Universal 4 10% New Line 3 8% Paramount 3 8% TriStar 3 8% Fox 3 8% Castle Rock 2 5% Sterling 1 3% Interscope 1 3% Island 1 3% Wesport 1 3% Touchstone 1 3% Electric 1 3% New Regency 1 3% Columbia 1 3%

I wonder if actual movie releases that year are in harmony with this breakdown of genres?

Of all of these, the one that piqued my interest the most was Surviving the Game, and I'm delighted to discover that it was actually made into a movie! With Ice-T as the homeless dude. I don't recall it coming out, but then I was busy in art school then. I like this series a lot. Long-ago loglines. It's fascinating to see the fads that came and went. But more important, it's cool to see that an interesting story is still an interesting story, some 20 years later. Maybe we have The Rock instead of Rutger Hauer, but the mechanics of an intriguing tale remain the same.

Odd that KIDSTUFF and SMALL SOLDIERS sold the same month, and essentially the same premise.

Thanks! It's amazing to me how Warner Bros. is almost always at the top of the list in terms of spec acquisitions. They have been #1 in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. And here they are #1 in 1992. Will definitely want to keep track of those. Again thanks!

Very Interesting. Some of these sales are encouraging.. like Surviving the Game for 200k and Theodore (T Rex) for 1.1mil... haha thanks for sharing!

Okay, the Shawshank story. The way I heard it was everybody at Castle Rock loved the script Frank Darabont wrote. So when they were talking to FD about acquiring the script, he met with Rob Reiner. RR said, "I want to direct this movie." Of course, he's thinking FD will be thrilled to hear that. FD replies, "No, I want to direct the movie." Remember up to this point, FD had directed a short and a TV movie. That's it. Compared to RR who had directed Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, Misery, A Few Good Men, etc. RR: Look, if this is you saying you want more money for the script... FD: No, it's me saying I want to direct Shawshank. RR: Okay, how about this? We'll give you a blind commitment to write another script if you let me direct... FD: Nope. RR: Awright, how about this. Any project we have in development at Castle Rock, you can direct that instead of Shawshank. FD: No. FD was adamant. He saw the movie in his head, he wanted to direct it. To their credit, RR and Castle Rock execs ended up agreeing. They were right: FD did a magnificent job. The thing that is amazing is that moment -- and imagine yourself in this situation -- where a director with the street cred and stature of a Rob Reiner tells you they want to direct your movie... and you say no. Man, that is some commitment to one's artistic vision!

I don't think The Little Wife got produced. So why not take the central conceit and give it a spin? Different genre maybe, another twist?

Didn't a similar thing happen to the Coen Brothers when they were shopping around Blood Simple? They got notes back from some producers and the Coens' answer was: "Oh no, the script is done. We just need help with the financing." Something like that, or am I remembering wrong?

I don't know how many of these got made - some, not a lot, from a quick scan. But they really should have made Nuclear Family. Like many on this site, I'm sure, I recognize that one from Save the Cat. Thought then that it would have been good, still do.

I was up for a rewrite assignment on Nuclear Family. Agree. A strong premise.

If Amblin still has it, they should offer The Nuclear Family to PIxar; sounds like the prefect logline for The Incredibles sequel/prequel. Why not make it an animation?

Now you're thinking like a Hollywood producer!

I like the following loglines for the reasons below: #11 KIDSTUFF: This not only has a cinematic premise, but it could be a great vehicle for themes about manhood, misplaced intentions and life lessons. #23 WICKED WAYS: The fish-out-of-water premise is classic and we have a character for whom there could be strong growth and a clear arc leading us to eventually like and root for him. #30 OUTLAWS: This screamed “Thelma & Louise” to me. ‘Nuff said!

[...] Before 1991, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, [...]